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Iraq
Izzy al-Douri to throw in towel
2007-08-23
Rusty comes in from the cold.
The leader of Iraq's banned Baath party, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has decided to join efforts by the Iraqi authorities to fight al-Qaeda, one of the party's former top officials, Abu Wisam al-Jashaami, told pan-Arab daily Al Hayat.

Al-Douri has decided to deal directly with US forces in Iraq. He has asked for guarantees over his men's safety and for an end to Iraqi army attacks on his militias.
"Al-Douri has decided to sever ties with al-Qaeda and sign up to the programme of the national resistance, which includes routing Islamist terrorists and opening up dialogue with the Baghdad government and foreign forces," al-Jashaami said. Al-Douri has decided to deal directly with US forces in Iraq, according to al-Jashaami. He figures in the 55-card deck of "most wanted" officials from the former Iraqi regime issued by the US government. In return, for cooperating in the fight against al-Qaeda, al-Douri has asked for guarantees over his men's safety and for an end to Iraqi army attacks on his militias.
We might have to go along with this, but that doesn't mean we have to like it ...
Recent weeks have seen a first step in this direction, when Baathist fighters cooperated with Iraqi government forces in hunting down al-Qaeda operatives in the volatile Diyala province and in several districts of the capital, Baghadad. Although the Baath party was officially banned after US-led forces in 2003 toppled the regime of Iraq's late president Saddam Hussein, its members have fought in the insurgency. Until just a few months ago, former Baath party members were helping Islamists carry out terrorist attacks against US forces in Iraq.
If this report is true, and the terms of the agreement as laid out, this could be the turning point in the war. The Baath party is outlawed, but a simple name change can deal with that. It can bring a secular Sunni-based party to the political stage to counterbalance the Shiite-heavy arrangement in the parliament. Dealing directly with the U.S. military, Izzy could become the agent of an actual reconciliation, negotiating terms of surrender - not that it would ever be called that - and reconstruction.
Posted by:Nimble Spemble

#14  OldSpook, I'm with you on this one. Probably plenty of $$$ still, but no real future. Sees an opportunity to move NOW, get a choice spot. Probably doesn't like his options if Dems force a withdrawal either, so timing is in support of Gen. Petreaus's report. Timing is everything. Probably still sees Shi'ites as main enemy, gets to put a stick in their eye at the same time. Take him.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2007-08-23 21:31  

#13  

'Curse be upon your mustache, you traitor.'

Posted by: Lord Of Monkey's   2007-08-23 12:36  

#12  I, for one, welcome our new Baathist overlords.

/sarcasm

Seriously, we need the Sunnis on board, and to make that happen we need to deal with dirt bags like this.
Posted by: Iblis   2007-08-23 12:19  

#11  All of these guys are opportunists; they hold their finger up and see which way the wind is blowing. Way back when, Saddam was the gravy train, but now it's the Coalition. [Shrugs] They're thugs, but they're the thugs we have to deal with, so we hold our nose and let them belly up to the trough. If we can get them to turn on al Qaeda and the Iranian clients, it will be worth it.
Posted by: Jonathan   2007-08-23 11:31  

#10  I wonder what the Syrian-Jordanian angle is? That is, this cur and his cabal are based in Damascus, with some of them in Jordan. So several things come into play, which may or may not be related to this.

1) The money is running out.
2) The Syrians or Jordanians are leaning on them.
3) Just a day or two ago, Saddam's daughter, also a big player in this, was told she wouldn't be extradited.

Lots of questions, no answers yet.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-08-23 10:10  

#9  I don't know, my guess is that the secret bank accounts are starting to run dry, and al-Douri isn't sanguine about refilling them from al-Queda or Iranian backers any more.

I've never been exactly clear on just how instrumental al-Douri has been in the Baath insurgency, and how much he's been the figurehead. Are we sure he's the guy with Saddam's ATM PIN codes?
Posted by: Mitch H.   2007-08-23 09:53  

#8  Guys, this one was the smartest of the bunch. If he is coming in, and getting a deal, you can bet your ass that he is bringing something of value. Unlike most of the other Baathists, this guy had options (money and access) to be somewhere else, far far away - and be fairly safe.
Posted by: OldSpook   2007-08-23 09:41  

#7  Word, NS.
Posted by: lotp   2007-08-23 07:36  

#6  King of Clubs as I recall. And holder of all the pass codes to the secret bank accounts and locations of cash.

If true, this would be as big a victory as Sherman's at Atlanta, both militarily and politically. The donks will have screwed themselves by putting Petraeus down. He would make a great candidate in '12 for whomever is out of office.

Also has to make Maliki think twice about being such a toady to Tater. The Kurds don't always have to side with the Shia.

A surrender is a surrender; we don't need bragging rights, too. Distasteful as it may be in the moment, we shouldn't hold out for the last nickel on the table if it means a chance we lose the deal. This would start paying immediate dividends. Carefully consider Grant's example.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-08-23 07:22  

#5  Last of the Red Hot ...Mamas? Anybody know where he was in "The Deck of Cards" and who's left?

News is getting better; the MSM - quieter.
Posted by: Bobby   2007-08-23 06:51  

#4  The Old Redhead is hearing footsteps.
Posted by: doc   2007-08-23 06:51  

#3  Izzy al-Douri to throw in towel

I'll take another line here Verlaine,

this is part of a big win for us,

In the short term Petraeus wins next month.

I think Izzy al-Douri's hand was forced by the the USA/Special Forces Marines and the Sunni Anbar Tribes. He can and should be used up like an old lawn mower for us.

I hope we keep "interfering" and out manuvering the Iraqi political parties, more proactively now because the next move after the Sunni areas will have to be Sadr City and the South, Najaf [Tater], Karballah [Tater/Badr], Basra [Tater/Badr] and by extension Iran.

my 2¢
~:)
Posted by: Red Dawg   2007-08-23 04:05  

#2  I'll bite, Verlaine: what were the other two actual mistakes?
Posted by: Steve White   2007-08-23 01:46  

#1  Hmmm. Aside from all the predictable sources of unease on this, I'm not so sure the redhead can deliver "the Sunnis". But who knows - maybe a portion.

If there is anything to this - and that's a big "if" - I'd advise driving an extremely hard bargain. So hard that it isn't distinguishable from surrender. Refusing to crush Sunni resistance was one of the Three Actual Mistakes, and while it can't be made good completely at this point, some aggressive deal-making that brings Sunni bad guys into the fold only on condition of their de facto surrender would help.

I'm astounded to hear from a friend still back having fun over there that these Sunni "insurgents" we are now so happily befriending are in fact being input into the theater biometric database (BATS). I'm skeptical that even these dimwits are so dim as to allow this, but if true it's something positive. A truly useful moment all around would be for a falling out with one of these gangs, settled by a US round-up and general whomping of their behinds, aided of course by the knowledge of exactly who they are (uh, not that that would require much genius in most cases even without the wondrous reconciliation with the infidel occupier, but let's leave that whining point aside).

Posted by: Verlaine   2007-08-23 01:32  

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